Of Magicians and Their Schemes
by Yukann
Summary: ...To Court Their Detectives. For all that Shinichi had been able solve a case with just a few pieces of a puzzle, he was ultimately hopeless at human interaction. Thank god he had Ran with him, or else Kaito's not-so-covert overturns would've been completely ignored.
1. Chapter 1

Of Magicians and Their Schemes

...To Court Their Detectives

Summary:

For all that Shinichi had been able solve a case with just a few pieces of a puzzle, he was ultimately hopeless at human interaction. Thank god he had Ran with him, or else Kaito's not-so-covert overturns would've been completely ignored.

-0-

It started with something subtle. A red and white rose, more specifically, a white rose with red spots. And it looked completely natural.

Kaito beamed in self-pride as he presented it, on Valentine's Day no less, to his current love interest, Kudo Shinichi. Said interest had looked at it curiously for a moment before commenting nonchalantly, "I think I've seen a blood-splattered rose on one of my cases before. The guy's head had been axed off and the blood had gone all over the poor flower in his hand."

He was about to continue on when the detective noted the increasingly pale skin his friend had in front of him. When Kaito rushed out of the room with the rose dangling precariously from his fingers looking for a place to throw it, Shinichi just looked bewildered before turning towards an amused Ran behind him and asked, wide-eyed and confused, "Was it something I said?"

The loud laughter and hand-banging-table was not what he expected.


	2. Chapter 2

"So..." Ran started, dragging the word out questioningly. "How's Kaito-kun doing?"

Shinichi looked up from the case files on his desk in the library to Ran who was leaning against his armchair and shrugged before focusing back onto his work.

"From what I know of him, I assume he's probably off somewhere playing pranks on Hakuba and turning on the charm to get free chocolate cakes and all," he said dismissively.

Ran frowned then tried to subtly prod the detective towards Kaito-thoughts. The magician better appreciate the effort she's putting in to help him and her childhood friend to get together.

"Don't you need to get Kaito-kun back for that prank he did to you the other day? Y'know, the one with the rose petals all over the bedroom and stuff?"

Even if it did inspire less-than-charitable thoughts about the other boy. Oh boy, the fun she could have with this situation!

Shinichi gave her an odd look then told her, matter-of-factly that no, that was KID and that he was going to eviscerate the thief when he saw him again.

The urge to laugh was getting worse. Reigning it in with the control of the twenty-year-old she was, Ran tried again.

"What about that time he put you in that white dress? I'm sure you probably want revenge right?"

As if on cue, an angry tic mark formed on his forehead at the thought of the incident two days ago, his fists clenched and he ground his teeth in fury. He had gone out of his was to forget that humiliating event but now that Ran had brought it up, the boiling fury couldn't be contained any longer.

"I'm going to go eviscerate that idiot right now!"

And because Ran was the best (worst) friend ever, she accompanied him all the way to Ekoda as the detective angrily stormed his way over to the magician's house (though how he knew the address when he had never been there was anyone's guess - though Ran's was quite accurate).

(The wide-eyed look of shock on Kaito's face made Ran's day, though Shinichi's stammer after realizing he was rudely trespassing on someone else's house was hilarious as well.)

A/N: unbeta'd. Written late at night so quality is bad. Not too happy w this so I may change this later or smth, depending on my mood.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: just had one of the worst days. As always, unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.

EDIT: fixed the formatting problem.

-0-

Shinichi had a bad day. Now, as he toed out of his shoes and into his house, he just wanted to drop into bed and sleep, hoping that tomorrow would be better.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee (that he'd run out of this morning) wafted through the house and Shinichi felt compelled to taking a look at where this piece of heaven was coming from.

The image of a messy-haired teen in the kitchen didn't faze the teen detective anymore. He just let out a long-suffering sigh before walking forward and stopping next to the other teen, watching him chop the vegetables and overall just preparing dinner.

"Welcome home Shinichi!" Kaito said brightly, deft hands never ceasing.

Coming home to this, Shinichi thought to himself, wasn't so bad. And maybe his day just got a little better.

(And Kaito knew it)


	4. Chapter 4

Shield:

Sometimes, the words hurt. Sometimes, a few (_all_) of those words hurled at him from almost everyone, criminals and friends alike (because no matter what, his family knew and accepted him whole-heatedly) got to him (useless punk, _liar_, the-one-who-disappeared)

Shinichi was strong (because he had to be), so most of the time, a few seconds and he could brush them off. Sometimes though, Shinichi just wanted to be alone, wallowing in his misery as the words repeatedly hurled themselves again in his mind. The pain, hurt, fear and the guilt, the utter self-hatred he felt, would make him want to huddle under his blankets and stay there for the rest of the day.

Shinichi was _strong_ yes, but he was also _weak_. 

Then Kaito came into his life, bringing explosions, flying cards and general insanity, but he also brought smiles and laughter and everything _good_ as well. With Kaito around, Shinichi didn't have to be strong because there was nothing that could hurt. The words glanced off him now and the voices at the back of Shinichi's head had quietened down now. Kaito had shielded him from them. The detective closed his eyes.

The television was blaring softly in the background as he slouched on the sofa, Kaito's head resting on his thighs, his own hands running idly through the magician's hair.

Peace wasn't something Shinichi had ever known, but he thought that maybe it was something like this.


End file.
